It may be because July has arrived. Again, this year, from somewhere, I began hearing cicadas singing, “Meen, meen.” It is the moment when I think the summer has come again this year, as I hear the cicadas after leaving the house.
When I walked for a while, I suddenly noticed something. For some reason, the cicadas stopped singing. Then, after a while, I started hearing a “gee, gee” sound. It sounded different from the one before. I wondered if they were different kinds, so I stopped and looked up, but I couldn’t see any cicadas on the trunks and leaves of the trees along the road. But I could hear cicadas singing for sure. I wondered where they might be and tried to look for them for a while, but I could not find them. I gave up and started walking.
I started hearing them again. This time, it sounded familiar. I stopped and looked up. I searched for the one that was singing for a minute or two. Still, I could not find it. But the sound was definitely coming from somewhere above. I gave up and started walking. And then, I started hearing them again, and I looked up. It was as if I were playing hide-and-seek with the cicadas.
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Southern U.S. and Mexico
When the hide-and-seek with cicadas begins, I realize I am in Tokyo again this summer.
I used to live in the U.S. and Mexico, and in the cities where I lived then, I had never heard cicadas singing during the summer. Or, to be more accurate, I should say, “I do not remember hearing them.”
In the U.S., I was mainly in the southern states of Arkansas and Texas, so I lived in a car-oriented society. I drove everywhere, rarely leaving home or going anywhere on foot. Once I got in the car, I immediately turned on the air conditioner so the windows would always be rolled up. I often listened to some loud music on full blast in the car, so even if there were cicadas around, I probably would not have noticed them.
When I was in Mexico, I walked about 30 minutes to work, but I do not remember hearing cicadas there either. Because walking around in Mexico was generally unsafe, I paid close attention to my surroundings when I was walking, so I was too busy walking than listening to the cicadas.
Walkable Big City
As I walked around while playing hide-and-seek with cicadas, I realized that “This is a city rarely seen anywhere else in the world.” In the fifth year of Reiwa (2023), Tokyo’s population reached 14 million, with 9.77 million in the 23 wards alone. There are many cities in the world with populations larger than Tokyo’s. Still, few are as convenient as Tokyo, where residents can live on foot without inconvenience.
In Tokyo, public transportation systems such as railroads, subways, monorails, buses, and taxis are built like a spider’s web so people can travel freely without a car. Especially within the 23 wards, people can easily walk anywhere and anytime. It is hard to find a city that has developed on the premise of pedestrians as much as Tokyo.
Also, securing a parking lot requires considerable space and fees. So, except for those who need a car for business or have a hobby of driving a car, only some people would consider a car essential. In any case, Tokyo is a place where you can live without a car.
And although Japan has recently become less safe, it is still relatively safe compared to the rest of the world, so people can walk around the city without worrying too much about security. Except for the newly developed areas, the whole city is built entirely on the premise of pedestrians.
A town with Scattered Greenery
Many places in Tokyo, starting with the Imperial Palace, have abundant greenery. Many ruins of old mansions have been converted into parks, such as the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. In addition, the riverbeds and other areas have been developed and turned into park-like areas.
Also, there are numerous shrines and temples in Tokyo; if you include small shrines and temples, you will feel that there are almost countless of them. Anyway, if you walk for a few minutes, you will come across small shrines and temples.
In many of these places, trees that have been around for a long time form a lush green corner. Therefore, walking around Tokyo, you will notice a surprisingly large amount of “ little greenery.”
Changes in Cityscape
However, the cityscape of Tokyo is constantly changing and never seems to stop. Is it because it is necessary for daily life or to pursue convenience? I do not know. At any rate, this city has been changing ever since Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa artificially created the city of Edo by changing the course of the river, building canals, and reclaiming the land. And the pace of change seems to have accelerated, especially in the past 20 years.
Roads have been paved and widened, private homes have been evicted as part of land readjustment, developments have been repeated, and then apartment condominiums are lined up in their place. In shopping streets, it seems to be a recent trend to replace individual stores with convenience stores and franchise stores.
At the same time, trees are being cut down or transplanted. Even if they are transplanted, not all of them are transplanted, and many trees and grasses are cut down. In addition, with the paving of roads and the construction of condominiums, soils on the ground, small ponds, and wells seem to be disappearing from residential areas as well.
Perhaps this is why I no longer see butterflies, dragonflies, grasshoppers, lizards, frogs, and other creatures I used to see around my house as a child. Yet, when I see them by chance, I am deeply moved by them. Even at my age, I’m surprised by how happy I get whenever I find a small creature.
Cicadas Speak to Me
A short time after I left home, I thought there was something odd. Even though I was walking through areas with trees, there were spots where the cicadas were singing and spots where they weren’t. The trees were not very tall, but when I was walking in a green area, the cicadas that had been singing just a moment ago suddenly stopped. After walking along the tree-lined path for a while, I heard the cicadas singing again. I was wondering why, and then I suddenly remembered. The place where the cicadas had just stopped singing earlier was a newly developed area. The area was artificially planted with greenery and just completed last year.
Speaking of which, I remembered that cicadas spend about seven years as larvae in the soil and then come out to the surface and spend only seven short days as adults. I realized there were probably no cicada larvae in the newly developed ground.
A few days later, I passed through the area where I hadn’t heard cicadas singing, and to my surprise, I heard them this time. I wondered why, “There should be no cicadas here,” but I soon understood. I figured a cicada had flown in from somewhere. I felt like I had been tricked by cicadas.
Even though the climate has changed in recent years, cicadas always announce the arrival of summer every year. And they seem to be asking us something.
“We’re doing fine somehow, but are you guys doing okay?”
Although the lingering summer heat still lingers in the air every day, the sounds of cicadas outside are changing into a chorus of insects, and the change of the seasons is becoming more apparent day by day.
When I left home, it was still quite hot and humid outside. And from somewhere, I could hear the cicadas singing with their last bit of strength.
I look up at the sky and say, “I’ll manage to get by, too,” and I will continue walking through this city again today.